Bharti Enterprises is one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecommunications, agriculture, financial services and the retail industry. Bharti Airtel one of India’s leading private sector providers of telecommunications services with around 60 million customers and sponsored the recent India Scholar Hunt TV programme, which gave winners fully-paid scholarships to five UK universities, including Leeds.

The honorary degree ceremony, held in the University’s Great Hall, and doctorates degrees were given to human rights campaigner Dr Nicola Brewer, academic and philanthropist Professor Malcolm Chaikin, the head of the International Red Cross Bekele Geleta, pianist Radu Lupu, Olympic hockey star Simon Mason, composer Michael Nyman, scientist and industrialist Lord Oxburgh and bestselling author Peter Robinson.  See link http://www.leeds.ac.uk/media/press_releases/current09/hongrad09.htm

Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Arthur, who has developed a strong relationship with India since his first visit to the country in 2006, said:  “We were delighted that Mr Mittal was with us to accept his honorary degree. Each of the recipients has made a major contribution to society in their chosen field, and all are a great inspiration to our students.”

On the occasion Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “I am delighted with this honour from such a globally reputed institution and would like to extend my sincere thanks to them for giving me Honorary Doctorate Degree. The recognition reflects India's growing reputation in the international fora. I sincerely believe this will go a long way towards inspiring India's young generation to pursue their goals with passion and commitment.”

The University has a long association with India, and currently has around 450 Indian students studying a range of courses from business to bio-sciences, communication studies to law. 

Our Ex - Director, Mr. Pankaj Jain had said:  “I was overwhelmed by the University’s decision to award an honorary degree to Sunil Bharti Mittal. He is a great business leader and an icon of entrepreneurship whose strong commitment to India is an inspiration for students going into business or starting out on a career in engineering.  “This is a clear demonstration of the University’s commitment to Indian students, parents and educational institutes.
The University of Leeds is a truly multi-cultural community. Of its 30,000 students, 5,000 are drawn from 120 overseas countries. They study on a broad range of 700 undergraduate and 474 postgraduate programmes at the University across the arts, sciences, social sciences, medicine, engineering and business. There are a limited number of scholarships available for students ranging from £500 to £6,000.  The University's vision is to secure a place among the world's top 50 by 2015. www.leeds.ac.uk

More than 2,000 former students have joined the University of Leeds Indian Alumni Association, many of them working in senior positions in multinational companies, private firms and public sector organizations.
Since its foundation in 1904, the University of Leeds has conferred honorary awards on a host of individuals from the worlds of science, art, academia, industry, politics, medicine, entertainment – and many other fields. Previous recipients include Prime Ministers Baldwin, Chamberlain and Eden; scientists Ernest Rutherford and Stephen Hawking; American statesmen Dwight Eisenhower and Casper Weinberger; writers Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett and Alan Ayckbourn; screen stars Diana Rigg, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench; musicians from Mark Knopfler to Dame Fanny Waterman – and Yorkshire sporting legends Jack Charlton and Dickie Bird. A full year-by-year list of honorary graduates can be found here:  http://tldynamic.leeds.ac.uk/leedsyorkshire/honorary/honorary_graduates.asp

Honorary degrees reward excellence and outstanding and sustained achievement in research, scholarship, education, the creative arts, public service, medicine and health, social progress, business and the economy, government, administration or any other area of activity of lasting value and significance. Awardees must be connected to the University or the region, or people whose distinction lies in a field with which the University itself is identified.

For photos of the award ceremony, kindly see link http://www.leeds.ac.uk/media/grads09/photos.htm

For videos of the award ceremony, kindly see link http://webprod2.leeds.ac.uk/webcast/default.asp?eventtype=G

For photos of Mr. Mittal on his visit to Leeds and during award ceremony, kindly ………. Click here